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Cedar Fence Construction Tips
03-30-2015, 06:55 PM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Cedar Fence Construction Tips
I'm going to put up a cedar fence like this:
I could save myself time if I put the posts 16 feet apart. Would that be pushing it? The only potential problem I see is the wind pushing it over in a storm (??)
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Al
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03-30-2015, 06:58 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,300
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Our eight foot cedar panels sag - 16? both sag and wow
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03-30-2015, 07:05 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,022
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I don't think you'd be happy with anything over 8ft. It would be very flimsy and have serious problems with sag.
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Numbers is hard
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03-30-2015, 07:15 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: the prairies
Posts: 5,051
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I've built several fences. Don't go over 8 feet or you can guarantee it will sag. In fact, with a 16' spacing it will probably sag even before you're done building it.
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03-30-2015, 07:27 PM
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 17,774
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Now that's funny, T-Al.
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“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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03-30-2015, 07:32 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
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Al,
I agree don't go 16'; save time by renting a gas post hole digger, air nail gun or whatever tools you're missing to speed the job up.
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03-30-2015, 07:36 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Madeira Beach Fl
Posts: 1,403
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A few well placed rocks and you're good to go.
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"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do" --Bob Dylan.
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03-30-2015, 07:43 PM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: the prairies
Posts: 5,051
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Choose your battles. I hate digging holes...buy the posts, mark their locations, and then hire someone to dig the holes and set them. After that's done, it's quick and easy.
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03-30-2015, 10:33 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,377
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It is easier and cheaper to do it right rather than do it over.
There is a fine line between frugal and cheap and you are crossing it.
Hire someone to drill the post holes.
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If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
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03-30-2015, 11:16 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,395
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um... I can't imagine 16' !
I use 7' post spacing to minimize rail sag over time, and for wind survivability.
4x4 posts should be rated for ground contact (.40 preservative).
For a 6' high fence, I set posts 30" deep. For an 8' high fence, at least 36" deep.
Some developer around here put up 8' tall fences using landscape timbers for posts (!), and they were set maybe 18" deep, maximum. They looked nice for first-time home buyers. And then blew down in the first high-wind storm after a few days of rain that saturated the ground.
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-- Telly, the D-I-Y guy --
Two fools dancing on the hands of time
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03-31-2015, 07:04 AM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,377
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For a deck and pool shed that we had at our old house what we did is we dug a hole, put a flat stone at the bottom of the hole and then had the "post" be a section of Sch-40 PVC pipe from the bottom of the hole to ground level and a 4x4 PT post inside of the PVC pipe that extended above the ground to the desired height. The PVC acted as a sleeve.
While we did it so any ground frost would grab and heave the sleeve rather than the post, I wonder if it would also cause the PT post to last longer and mitigate rot since it would be contacting the PVC sleeve rather than soil. It seemed to work quite well in avoiding the posts moving up and down from frost but we were not there long enough for me to know if it also kept the post from rotting.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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03-31-2015, 09:35 AM
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#12
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 584
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We have a high water table in the area. Wooden posts tend to rot and break at ground level.
I've seen wood fences with metal posts. They make a clamp strip designed for this now so you can use the metal posts used on the chain link fences. I'm planning on doing this as we rebuild our fences around the house and on any future rental houses.
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03-31-2015, 09:50 AM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,880
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Thanks. Will go 8' & 3' deep. The whole fence will only be about 20' long.
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Al
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03-31-2015, 10:37 AM
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#14
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Full time employment: Posting here.
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Location: San Jose
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I had an over 400 foot cedar dog-ear fence built in the mid 90's, including three man gates, and a big double-door gate to drive a car through. I was going to do it all by myself.
But then I wised up.
I marked where I wanted it to go, and hired somebody to come drill the holes. Ended up going 7 feet apart instead of 8, just to guarantee we wouldn't have problems with 8 foot boards not being quite long enough. I heard enough horror stories from other people who had built fences with posts 8 feet apart, and because of imperfections in measuring, some ended up being a little over 8 feet apart, and they had to buy longer lumber (and more expensive) to run some of the boards.
Then I wised up even more, and had a fence company come out and build it. Cost about $7000, but well worth it - they did a quality job.
The only part I tackled myself was spraying it with sealant, which was a requirement in the high altitude of Colorado. I enlisted a couple friends as volunteers, and we spent the better part of two weekends applying about 2 or 3 coats to both sides.
If I'd been a litter wiser, I would have hired that out, too. Talk about a nasty disgusting job. That sealant was a mess, and we couldn't help but get it on us as we were working. Ruined a set of clothes, and just a messy job. I'd never do it again. A few years later when I had to reapply, I hired that out.
But the fence came out great - I wouldn't hesitate to build another cedar dog-eared fence around a property. But I wouldn't attempt to do any of the work myself anymore, except to lay out where I wanted it to go.
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03-31-2015, 10:41 AM
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#15
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 7,946
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Slightly off-topic but since we seem to have some experienced fencers here: how do you work with adjoining (fence-sharing) neighbors when said fence needs to be replaced? 90% of our fence is shared with 2 neighbors (we are on a corner lot).
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03-31-2015, 11:36 AM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,899
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bestwifeever
Now that's funny, T-Al.
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He should tweet it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Thanks. Will go 8' & 3' deep. The whole fence will only be about 20' long.
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Huh?
A 20' fence and you are asking about 16' spacing? Wouldn't a middle post put you at 10' spacing? And one additional post, (4 versus 3) gets you to 7.333' spacing. Why scrimp for one post?
What happened to the 'I want to spend more money T-Al'? Used vacuum cleaners, skimpy fences? Open the wallet!
-ERD50
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03-31-2015, 11:55 AM
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#17
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,377
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Good point TP. At 20' one would need 3 posts with a 16' spacing so just make it 10' spacing and declare victory. 3 posts either way.
In the OP Al indicated that putting the posts 16' apart would save time. Is T-Al losing it? Lena better check his bike helmet for cracks.
Just pulling your chain Al.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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03-31-2015, 12:08 PM
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#18
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Portland
Posts: 4,946
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MBAustin
Slightly off-topic but since we seem to have some experienced fencers here: how do you work with adjoining (fence-sharing) neighbors when said fence needs to be replaced? 90% of our fence is shared with 2 neighbors (we are on a corner lot).
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If the neighbors are all agreeable, you just split the costs and put the fence on the property line. If one of the neighbors is, well, less than agreeable, you put the fence entirely on your side of the property line and pay for it all yourself, selecting a fence design that you can repair/replace boards from your side without trespassing.
"Fence law" is an entire legal specialty.
When in doubt, consult a lawyer specializing in this stuff. Really.
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03-31-2015, 12:28 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,377
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M Paquette
If the neighbors are all agreeable, you just split the costs and put the fence on the property line. If one of the neighbors is, well, less than agreeable, you put the fence entirely on your side of the property line and pay for it all yourself, selecting a fence design that you can repair/replace boards from your side without trespassing.
"Fence law" is an entire legal specialty.
When in doubt, consult a lawyer specializing in this stuff. Really.
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+1 and if your neighbor is a jerk, paint the side of the boards facing their side an obnoxious color before installing. Bright pink? Bright orange?
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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03-31-2015, 02:25 PM
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#20
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: seattle
Posts: 646
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2' deep is usually fine as a hole depth. That 3rd foot can be easily worth double the time to dig as the first two. I usu. hillbilly it and pour dry concrete mix directly into the posthole with the post in already. Then it is easy to plumb and line the post. Then add plenty of water on top of the mix and wet the adjacent soil completely. This all assumes a neat and sound hole, so it wouldn't work in loose or sandy soils.
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